Antenna Help - Hendersonville TN

HvilleArea1 · 26-Dec-2014, 6:20 AM

Hello,

I use an indoor antenna and receive some of the nearby stations but not all. I'm wondering if an attic antenna would be a good upgrade, and if so what equipment and setup would you recommend?

My home is a two story townhome, vinyl sided, asphalt shingle roofed, with a decent amount of space available in the attic to hang an antenna. My front door faces roughly southwest, and I have adjoining townhomes on my left and right as oriented from this front door (so additional attic obstruction on either side). I have no obstructions facing out from my back door which faces roughly northeast.

With my current RCA ANT1650R digital indoor flat antenna I can consistently get CBS (WTVF), ABC (WKRN), MyN (WUXP, 30.1), ION (WNPX, 28.1), and WJFB (44.1 [reads 66.1 on map]).

I can sometimes get FOX (WZTV). I can never get two stations of interest : NBC (WSMV) and PBS (WNPT, 8.1).

I have used two different RCA indoor flat antennae, ANT1500 (non-amplified) and ANT1650R (amplified). I do have to rotate them to get specific stations. I have never been able to receive WNPT.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...2c158eba4e2038

The house is wired for cable TV, I'd love to disconnect the home from the cable company's network and connect use the existing cabling if possible. From the attic, I'd want to drive three tvs on the first and second floors, and an additional tv in the basement if possible (3 stories below the attic).

If an attic antenna a good option for my townhome environment? If so, which antenna and amplifier would you recommend? Is it possible to get an attic antenna that would handle the range of degrees the reception would arrive from without requiring rotating?

Thank you very much.

timgr · 27-Dec-2014, 8:25 PM

Hi -

Couple of things you should be aware of. Effectiveness of an attic installation is difficult to predict. There are too many unknowns, in the material of the roof and structure, trees and buildings and other obstructions on the other side of the roof, and conductive and/or noisy wires, pipes, chimneys, etc. that are part of the building. Antennas are designed to function in free air, and you can change their electrical characteristics by placing them in other environments. Some building materials are more transparent to signals than others. Stucco, for example, contains wire mesh typically and is basically opaque to TV signals.

So did your little antenna work the same or better in the attic location? Certainly I would test that before proceeding. Just buy a long cable and run it from your TV into the attic space where you want to site the antenna. Hopefully things will improve or at least not get any worse. I'd next get say an RCA ANT751. http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT751-Dur.../dp/B0024R4B5C - which should be available from Walmart - and give it a try in the attic. You have several stations that are quite strong in the 261 to 221 compass direction. It's important that you be able to site thantenna pointing in that direction, unobstructed by chimneys, pipes, wires, etc. Also, if there are trees outside the building that are bare, and you are aiming through them, your reception could get a lot worse in the spring.

If you want, you can go bigger than the ANT751 - but I would try that first and see how it goes. Once you get one TV working to your satisfaction, connected directly to the antenna, you can add splitters and a distribution amp (if needed) to divide the antenna signal.

HvilleArea1 · 28-Dec-2014, 5:03 AM

Thank you Timgr for the response. I appreciate your time. I will do as directed and see what I get from the attic.